Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary and Pag-IBIG Fund Board Chairman Jose Ramon P. Aliling reported that from January to September, Pag-IBIG Fund financed 68,514 homes worth PHP111.29 billion, up from 59,789 homes worth PHP93.03 billion during the same period last year. This represents a 15% increase in homes financed and a 20% rise in housing loan releases.

nchcape has appointed Robert McAllister as country head of Inchcape Philippines, which distributes Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, trucks, and buses and Jaguar Land Rover, and operates the retail business of Harley-Davidson.

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy A18 and Galaxy A08 in the Philippines. Both phones have Circle to Search with Google, AI agents that can work with Gemini and Perplexity, IP64 dust and splash resistance, and up to six generations of OS upgrades. The Galaxy A08 has a 6,000mAh battery and is available now from PHP11,190, with up to PHP1,200 off until November 30. The Galaxy A18 arrives by December 2026.

Just in time for Undas, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. led the opening of NLEX-C5 Northlink Segment 8.2 Section 1A on October 29. The 2-kilometer section links Quirino Highway in Quezon City to the NLEX Mindanao Toll Plaza in Valenzuela City, gives motorists direct access to the NLEX Connector, and is expected to serve about 11,000 vehicles daily. It is open 24/7 to all vehicle classes.

Decarbonization may be a growth strategy for manufacturers, not just a cost. A new World Economic Forum white paper with Tata Consultancy Services notes that the green economy exceeds USD5 trillion a year and is growing at twice the pace of conventional revenues, yet only 8 percent of large listed companies assessed have decarbonization plans. Case studies include a 107 percent ROI at Foxconn Industrial Internet and a 43 percent boost in production capacity at Beko's Eskişehir factory.

Three races, three different overall winners at Round 3 of the 2026 SEAOIL Radical Challenge Philippines. Defending SR1 champion Juha Turalba returned with a win, Jaime Almario took the final race, and JR Gan won Race 1 in SR1, while Andre Rodrigues extended his SR3 streak to seven. Rodrigues leads SR3, Gan leads SR1, and both titles will be decided at Clark International Speedway on November 20 to 21.

The POCO C95 Pro is now in the Philippines with a 7,500mAh battery, 45W turbo charging, a 6.9-inch 120Hz display, and IP64 dust and splash resistance. It comes in Blue, Green, and Black. Early bird prices run until November 15, starting at PHP11,999 for the 6GB + 128GB variant. With the Shopee rebate and voucher, it can go as low as PHP10,599.

Launching a DDoS attack can cost less than a cup of coffee. Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence analyzed more than 256,000 darknet posts and identified 148 DDoS actors active since at least 2024. Brokered attacks range from USD30 to USD2,000, DDoS-as-a-Service subscriptions can start at USD1, and application-layer attacks appear in 92 percent of offers.

The Philippine Tech Show 2027 is set for April 6 to 7, 2027, at the SMX Convention Center Manila. Organized by the Philippine Cable and Telecommunications Association, this year's theme is "NEXT," covering telecommunications, ICT, cybersecurity, cloud, and artificial intelligence.

Filipino consumers are increasingly asking AI instead of Googling. A 12-month Truelogic study of 80 Philippine brands found mentions in Google AI Overviews rose more than 23-fold in 2025, while organic branded traffic across 80 Philippine websites fell by three to eight percent. The study found that brands with strong AI visibility tend to have clearly structured content and well-optimized websites.

Honda Cars Philippines has opened Honda Cars Shaw in Mandaluyong City, its first dealership operated by its own subsidiary, Honda Cars Retail Philippines. It is also the first in the country to use Honda's New Global Visual Identity store design. The roughly 1,811-square-meter facility features a six-car showroom, a customer lounge, and 17 service bays, and is open daily from 8 AM to 5 PM.

What happens when AI shops for you? In the Philippines, where InstaPay processed a record 4.7 billion transactions in 2025, Fiuu CEO Eng Sheng Guan says the next test is trust. In agentic commerce, he says, customer permission and clearly defined limits come first.

SoftwareOne and Crayon have completed the integration of their channel businesses across Asia Pacific (APAC) under the SoftwareOne brand, creating a single channel business for partners in the region. The combined business offers partners access to specialist resources, services, and vendor relationships across software asset management, cloud, cybersecurity, data and AI, and managed and technical services.

Skyro is moving beyond big-ticket financing. At its Skyro Mooove! event, with ambassadors Dennis Trillo and Jennylyn Mercado, the fintech put the spotlight on SkyroCredit, a reusable credit line of up to PHP100,000 with QR Ph acceptance at over one million merchants and up to 30 percent cashback on eligible purchases in categories customers choose each month.

AI is helping Philippine security teams respond faster, but confidence in handling a compromised AI agent is far from universal. Cisco's Relentless Defense Report found that only 59% of organizations in the Philippines are very confident they could detect and respond to one, and that 93% suffered a business-disrupting cyber incident in the past year. The report identifies organizational friction, such as approval delays, data silos, and disconnected teams, as a key barrier to stronger defense.